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Thursday, February 9, 2017

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

I've finally got down to reviewing "The Sun is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon. This contemporary romance, about two incredibly different characters who attempt to get past each others' boundaries is a very interesting read. It's also quite a quick read, as it deals with heavy emotions in the colloquial style that is more common today.

Natasha is a Jamaican girl who has lived in America since she was 8 years old. She is a strong believer in fact and science, and from experience, has learned that practicality outdoes passion, and that plans are better than poetry. She is most definitely not the type of person who falls in love- especially when her family is 12 hours away from being deported back to Jamaica.

Daniel's Korean parents think he is like Natasha (not that they know of, or would ever approve of her skin type). For a long time, so did he. He got good grades, like his elder brother, and he was a part of all school activities. When his brother started overshadowing him however, he became a subconscious dreamer and poet.

What are the chances that a young Korean-American boy, on his way to a Yale Alumni interview would bump into a young Jamaican girl, on her way to the immigration office in an attempt to save her family? That's right- very little, but with the help of storytelling, these two young adults do in fact, end up meeting.
Daniel knows immediately, that he likes this girl. The problem is, she doesn't believe in love, or second chances, or poetry, or aspirations. She follows rules and believes in plans. So he sets out to convince her, through the course of the day that falling in love is a possibility and that dreams can come true. He sets out to make her fall in love with him in less than a day.
Nicola Yoon writes from both the teenagers' perspectives, and often adds in chapters titled "A history of" to further explain minor characters and concepts in the novel. This helps add to the emotional weight of the book, as we see characters avoiding topics with each other, but fully comprehending their meaning in the "History of" sections.
Both characters have distinctive tastes, as is obvious by the summary of the book, and it is evident that they are taunting each other with secrets, questions and jokes. They go back and forth between topics and manage to have the most coincidental day every. But I never questioned it.
I accepted ( for some unknown reason) that the author has the right to make her characters move towards each other in inexplicable ways and that as the reader, I can't do anything but question it. I actually liked the series of coincidences in this book that led to the romance, because it was a welcome change from the regular dense material that lies within such books.

I'd recommend this book to Rainbow Rowell and Jandy Nelson. Anyone who's looking to step into the genre of contemporary romance should also try this book, because it keeps the usually heavy emotions quite light, without denying you the opportunity to understand them. Any other YA readers out there who've been hearing about this book for months and haven't got the time to read it- you should make the time!